The Forgotten Zodiac

Seria, moving to walk past Forin and Diana, hit the boy on the back of his head as she passed. "Don't be rude to Werr." she said sternly. "Or next time I'll just let you be in pain." She let go of Luen's hand and turned into a cat, trotting ahead.

Luen, whom she had left near them, glanced over at the others. He was also nervous about being near the raptorix, and it showed. He carefully reached out and offered a slightly quivering hand to Diana, ready to pull it back if Forin tried to hit him too.

Diana looked up at Luen and smiled happily, though tiredly. She took Luen's hand, and said quietly, "I'm glad you're better. I was worried."

Forin didn't even glance at Luen, in the meantime, choosing instead to fume at the back of Seria's head. He wasn't being rude, he just didn't trust Werr. At all. Seria and Luen were the only two he fully trusted amongst this group. Nate, maybe a little. Airlia, Werr and Welk, on the other hand, were among the untrusted list. As such, holding hands with Diana was not something he would let them do.

Luen smiled a little at her, then started walking, his steps slowed with exhaustion. He flicked his tail once, then let it hang down.

Relic bounced around ahead of them, tittering and talking enthusiastically...to himself. "Such a nice day it is. Yes it is. A very very very very nice day. With flying chickens in the sky! Look! Chicken!" A crazed wave at an overhead bird. "Aww, that chicken had to go. Poor guy. Or a girl. It could be a girl. Or...I could be a girl. No, I'm not a girl. I'M NOT A GIRL!" A gasp. "What happened to my cow?!" He raced off the side of the road and grabbed a stick, holding it tightly in his hands. "My cow! Somebody killed hiiiiiiiiim. How would I ever life without my sheep?" He seemed to instantly forget that it had been a cow moments ago. "This was the best sheep in the world. It was made of stone. Stone sheep! Hee hee hee!" He chunked the stick over his shoulder and raced back across the road, already forgetting what he had been doing with the stick. "I found diamond!" he screeched, holding a rock tightly in his hands. "Ahh, so pretty."

Welk shook his head, then said "Man, I'm getting tired just from watching him."

((Chicken, Cow, Sheep, Stone and Diamond.

Congratulations, Trin. You have been infected with the Minecraftz. 8D))

Werr stared in confusion, and he looked slightly upset. Seeing Relic like that reminded him of his own mother; she would act in similar ways whenever he took her outside. Fascination over things that weren't there, confusing things for different things, screaming at nothing...Werr looked away, reminding himself that mother was gone. She wasn't going to come back, and thinking about it was getting him nowhere. When this was over, he was going to live near Welk and his mother, and they would go find Cynyr and bring him, too.

Werr couldn't help but question if he would be happy like that. If he didn't live in the same house as Welk and Briana (which, he had a hunch that she wouldn't like that quite as much), then he would have to get accommodations somewhere, as well as pay for it. And food. And clothes. Not to mention the fact that no one wanted to hire an untrained boy who didn't even finish their schooling years.

Werr sighed unhappily, trying not to think of such things. One thing at a time.

((XD

Shame on you, Werr. Briana would love having him around, especially if he made Welk happy. That's part of why she let Welk go. Because she knew he was happy with Werr.))

Welk heard him sigh and looked up at him, then closing his eyes and rubbed his head against the boy's leg. "Hey." he said. "I thought I said you were pessimistic anymore." He smiled, then flinched when Relic screamed "CREEPERS EVERYWHERE!" The blonde half-cat shook his head, then said "That guy's a psychopath. Why does he act like that? He absolutely nuts!"

((There was Minecraft refs in this chapter. I wonder how many other people will notice them?))

((Pfft, just let him overthink things. xD))

Werr blinked at Welk and was about to say something, then jumped when Relic screamed. "Yeah...I was just....thinking about how mother would act in similar ways, when she went outside...eventually, it got to the point where I couldn't take her outside, she was so disruptive. I would feel terrible, keeping her locked up inside all the time..." He looked back up at Relic, forcing his threatening tears away. "I don't know if this guy has what she had or not. It's certainly possible, but...I dunno."

Relic bounded around in circles, squawking in a dinosauric tone, then ran over and hugged a nearby tree. "I love you." he said, purring against the bark. "I love you so much." He then let go and charged towards them, coming to a screeching halt inches away from Werr. Welk yelped and took cover behind Werr. Relic stared closely at the human boy with his huge yellow eyes, then murmured "You are such a conflicted person. Always thinking, always worrying. Why not just enjoy all of the time you have? You never know when it will be your last day with a friend." He grinned, then turned and bolted off, already forgetting what he had just done.

Werr watched Relic, eyes widened a bit. It was true...he had been so worried about the future and so upset about the past that he had completely forgotten about the present. He had Welk now. Why couldn't he just focus on that? Werr sighed, vaguely aware that he was geing stupid again, listening to Relic like that. He couldn't just stop thinking, and of course he worried. Werr shook his head, and smiled a bit at Welk. "Yeah...he's a little crazy."

"A little?" Welk said, raising an eyebrow. "Dude, he just said he was in love with a tree. I think that counts for a bit more."

Relic suddenly ran up and forced a stick into Nate's hands, saying "Here! Take this! Quickly, or the world is gonna die!" He left the stick with Nate and plunged off into the forest, shouting "Froggy's got the stick!"

Nate looked furious, dropping the stick at once. He looked very, very irritated by the lizardman, more irritated than anyone had seen him yet. Airlia let out a small yelp and pulled her hand out of his grasp as he squeezed it without thinking.

"Oh...sorry," Nate apologized quickly, rubbing his temples in exasperation.

"It's okay..." Airlia mumbled, but she dropped back to walk next to Seria, instead.

Relic circled back, almost stalking them now. He prowled around through the bushes, then let out a growl and leapt out, racing between them and out in front. "Your princess is in another castle!" he shouted, spinning in circles so fast he nearly became a blur. He turned and slammed into a tree head-on, falling backwards in shock. He sat there for a moment and rubbed his head, frowning, then kept sitting there, staring at the tree. "It's a staring contesting." he said. "I'm winning."

((...Now I'M getting irritated. xD Did you put him in for any reason in particular?))

"We don't care!" Nate nearly yelled at Relic. "Go away! Go play with that Gryphon that attacked Forin or something. He might like you a little more than we do, you know. And what about Nelu?"

"I think I might start crying if he doesn't leave soon," Forin grumbled, still very unhappy. Diana looked much like she was about to cry as well, but that was mainly because Relic was scaring her a bit.

((Nope. >: D I can't help that he's a wack job.))

Relic got up and stared right at Nate, his yellow eyes narrowed dangerously. For only a moment, sanity returned. "Nelu is nothing to me." he growled. "She holds me back due to her weakness. Tell me, dragonian, how old are you? How many deaths have you seen in your life? How many have you caused? You know nothing of the suffering I have beheld! Of the suffering I have caused. If I so wished it, I could kill any of you. I am stronger than my incoherent babbling lets on. But, I suppose that's what comes from being over two-hundred-and-sixty years old." He shrugged slightly, then folded his arms and stared at them, his cold intelligence remaining for a moment longer.

((8I))

"Tch," Nate growled in annoyance. In truth, he had seen and caused more deaths than he cared to remember. It was probably worth nothing to Relic, but Nate wasn't completely mental. He knew what taking a life truly meant. "Well, why are you here, then? Your incoherent babbling is getting more and more on my nerves, you pest!" He snapped at the Raptorix, not particularly caring how much trouble he might be getting himself into.

"Fine then." Relic said, turning away. "We'll meet again, little dragon, and when we do, be prepared to show your fangs. Though you would do well to the remember the advice of someone who has been around for more than two-hundred years, when you yourself have barely graced twenty-eight." How he knew how old Nate was, nobody could tell. "I could be an ally." the raptor said. "I could be an enemy. That is my choice to make and yours to accept. But what do I know about how the mind of a dragon works? I'm just the insane raptor, aren't I?" He laughed, closing his eyes for a moment, then said "I'll see you all around...whether you like it or not." He turned and walked away, for once, completely silent.

Welk's jaw had dropped open during the confrontation. He stared after the raptor, blinking a few times, then whispered "He's how many years old? He didn't...there's no way he could be that old! He only looks like he's Werr's age..."

((Okay, I've decided. Bad guy is a girl. :T Just so you know. We should also have a cut-scene wif tem bad guys sooner or later.))

Nate made a face as the Raptorix left. "Some creatures age differently than others, Welk," He just sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Come on, then. Let's just...keep moving, I guess."

((Awesome.

We gotz to do that soon. O_o I can put Jagat back in, since he'll be a bad guy for a while longer. He might stay a bad guy, but I'm not sure. Nelu is 100% never changing sides. Relic doesn't count because he's nuts.))

Welk frowned, trying to think over what had just happened, then said "Oh, forget it! I don't know anymore. I mean, what even just happened? Bah!" He trotted ahead, saying "Was he threatening us? Was he saying he wanted to be friends? I don't know! Stupid dinosaur, raptor, lizard, thing..." He muttered a few more complaints to himself, then skittered back to Werr.

((Indeed.

Okay. And yeah, if he does something awesome to make up for his craziness, maybe Nate might forgive him for driving the poor dragonian crazy.))

"Just...be quiet for a little while, okay, Welk?" Nate sighed, shaking his head.

"It would be a blessing if that half-cat ever did such a thing." Forin grumbled. "What a thought. Welk, being quiet."

"Hey! Don't you talk about Welk like that, Forin!" Werr snapped, quick to defend his friend. "Welk can talk all he wants, at least he doesn't go around hugging trees and rambling about princesses."

"Don't you pick a fight with me, human," Forin growled, flicking a finger at Werr. A little red spark flicked off and jumped through the air, fizzling out inches from Werr's face. "Humans are the one creature I can really do damage to, believe it or not. Such simple molecular structures..."

((Ha ha, he's got some tricks up his sleeve. And raptorix's normally have normal lifespans, just so you know. By all means, he should've grown old and died a long time ago.))

Welk snarled at Forin, his lips drawing back in a loud, growled hiss. The fur along his spine rose as he arched his back slightly, hiss-snarling again. "Hey, at least I was agreeing with you!" he spat. "I wanted the raptorix to leave too, you know. You don't gotta be such a brat." He glared furiously at the summoned creature, then snarled "I can be quiet whenever I want. And if you lay a single finger on my friend and hurt him in any way, I swear I'll find some way to kill you, even if I have to go and join Asmodius himself or get turned into the biggest, darkest, most evil monster there is!"

((Well, Nate was thinking about how real dragons live for aaagggeeessss.))

Forin opened his mouth to reply, but he realized that Diana really was crying now, upset further by the fighting. Her weariness from the earlier battle didn't help at all, either. She was walking just as quickly as before, trying to hide her tears and crying as quietly as possible, but Forin had sensed it since the first tear. Forin fell silent, but not before casting a glare at Welk and Werr. He would have liked to mention how he was older than everyone in the group, and older than Relic, but he figured it best to just keep quiet.

Diana was crying, though. That upset him even further, sending his fuming anger into a boiling rage that was directed at no one in particular.

Werr blinked in surprise at this. Would Welk really do all that for him? Werr thought about it silently, his argument with Forin forgotten for the time being. To what lengths would he go to, in order to protect his friend? He was a little torn between what he had determined to be his current purpose in life, and Welk. Gah, Relic was right, he was too conflicted about all this...